Presto Recording of the Week
20th September 2024

Gramophone Magazine
Awards Issue 2024
Editor's Choice

Anima Eterna, Pablo Heras-Casado

Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in Eb Major 'Romantic'

For their first collaboration on harmonia mundi, Pablo Heras-Casado and Anima Eterna explore the world of Bruckner. The first instalment in this series is his tremendous Symphony No.4. An apotheosis of architectural rigour and poetry, this cathedral in sound, thanks to the unique sonorities of the period instruments played by the Bruges orchestra, regains its lightness and elegance in dazzling orchestral colours.

"The relatively small forces and the use of period instruments bring a level of clarity rarely heard in Bruckner’s music, the distinctive timbres characterfully colouring the sound and demonstrating the skill and subtlety of his orchestration...If you yearn for a recording of this symphony that avoids indulgence, but which reflects Bruckner’s ‘Romantic’ sobriquet and the powerful sense of inevitability that persistently underlines his writing, this is one you should listen to." - Presto Music, 20th September 2024